June 2016 Newsletter - Chicago Nomads – Ski, Snowboard, and

Chicago Nomads
Ski Club Newsletter
June 1, 2016
Volume 49, Issue 19
the Prez Sez...Bob - Grouch - Klawitter
The Prez Sez
Now it's summer and skiing is not much on your
mind. But the club still gets together for biking ,
dancing and other activities.
I know in the past some members have offered get-togethers for the
purpose of introducing us to some other pursuits that we can enjoy
as a club. (Yoga was just too hard on my body) So if you have an activity you would like to share with us just contact the board and we will
see about setting up a date for trying your sport.
June 1st is also the time to pay your dues for the coming 16/17 season. Pay early and avoid waiting in line at the Ski-O-Rama.
Our condolences go out to Mary Myer on the loss of Rusty. We will send a donation to the Manteno Veterans Home in his honor.
Cindy Vondrasek – Vice President
Time flies by so fast…two years ago I took over the position of Vice President for our
club and with the help from Mike O’Rourke we put together some great trips: Banff,
Mount Bachelor, Telluride, Park City and Italy. My term has ended and we now have
a new energized member ready to take over the reins. Heather Seger is now our Vice
President for the next two years and I will be helping her with the planning of the
trips to come. On May 14th several of the board members attended the Trip Seminar
to start looking for area’s to go to for our 2017 Ski Season. Heather is looking at Jackson Hole, White Fish, Mammoth Mountain, Big White (Canada), and an Alaskan Cruise (end of August or the
beginning of September). Next month there will be more information and details for each trip.
At this time the club has booked the Chicago Week trip to Beaver Creek. It will be from Saturday, February
25, 2017 to Saturday, March 4, 2017. The package will include: seven nights lodging, round trip airfare
(Chicago /Denver), Bus transportation, Welcome reception, Trip to Vail, Mountain lunch, Racing, Pub Crawl,
Apres-ski party, 5-day lift ticket, and a Dinner Banquet with music and dancing. The cost will be approximately $1690.00 per person. More information provided next month.
I want to thank everyone who attended
any of the trips that I selected and I also
want to thank my trip leaders who ran
each of the trips. And a BIG “Thank
you” to Mike O’Rourke who was my assistant and really helped out a lot when
I was not available.
Cindy
of the newsletter.
This is a great, inexpensive way to promote
your work with people you know and trust Nomads.
Contact any Board member for more information.
Happy summer to all the Nomad’s from the new newsletter editor! This is my
first time putting together the newsletter and I have some tall shoes to fill as
Andy Edington did a great job in the past. I promise to get better at this new position going forward. Please be patient as I learn how to use Microsoft Publisher
to organize and add content to our newsletters. I will do my best to keep up on
this as well as the Nomad Website. I also intend on learning how we might advertise our club with google. I have a lot of work ahead of me!
I’m very thankful my hard work paid off on our club website. It was AWESOME that CMSC
recognized this with a 2015-2016 Gary Heller Website Excellence Award 2nd Place Winner.
Scott Sanders - Editor
Web@Chicagonomads.com
Darling Debbie’s Social Scene
I was thrilled with the number of people we had at our first-ever, Drinks & Desserts Awards General
Meeting. It was decided to present awards at the General Meeting as opposed to the picnic and it
turned out great (thanks to President Grouch for coming up with the idea). We had about 55 people
attend. We had a lot of desserts, many of them homemade. Music was provided by the duo, Mike &
Ray. Although there weren’t a lot of dancers, many people said they enjoyed just listening to the
music. Overall, it was a wonderful night. If you didn’t make it, here is a recap of the awards.
Nomad of the Year: Bonnie Lunde
Racing Awards:
1st Place Men:
2nd Place Men:
3rd Place Men:
Herb Lhotka
Rich Clausius
Chris Oldanie
1st Place Women:
2nd Place Women:
3rd Place Women:
Heather Seger
Patty Pfau
Pam Bremer
Honorable mentions for racing went to Alex and Irina Clausius as both received medals during their
races this year. What a great achievement!
We also said goodbye to our outgoing Board Members and gave a warm welcome to our new board
members.
Outgoing board members were: Cindy Vondrasek (Vice President); Mike O’Rourke (Asst. Vice President) Mary Anzilotti (Membership); Fran Salvatori (Treasurer) and Andi Eddington (Editor).
Your new board members are: Heather Seger (Vice President); Pam Bremer (Treasurer); Steve
Young (Membership); Scott Sanders (Editor).
Mark your calendars for the Nomad’s 55th Anniversary Dinner Dance which will be held on Saturday,
October 22nd, 2016 at the Chateau Del Mar. Invitations will be going out next month, but we will
have flyers on the Nomad website soon that you can use to sign up. The cost will be $65 per person.
Seating will be limited and on a first come, first served basis. And we will not hold seats for anyone
without payment. Contact me if you have any questions.
That’s it for now. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please email me at
ddurkovic1234@comcast.net
Debbie
Darling Debbie’s Social Scene
The Nomad Ski Club of Chicago cordially invites you to attend their
55th Anniversary Dinner Dance
on Saturday, October 22nd, 2016 at
Chateau Del Mar
8101 W. 95th Street, Hickory Hills, Il.
Cocktails at 6:30 in the evening, dinner at 7:30
$65 per person
R.S.V.P. before September 24th, 2016
Respond early as seating is limited
Please return the lower section of this form with your check made payable to
Nomad Ski Club
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name:_________________________________________________________________
Number attending: ______________________________________________________
Check number: _________________________________________________________
Make checks payable to Nomad Ski Club
Mail checks to:
Debbie Durkovic
16946 Lilac Ln
Lockport, IL 60441
Hello Nomads, this is Mark Anzilotti, with a reminder for the Nomad spring picnic.
When: Saturday, June 4th
Time: Noon till dusk
Where: Yankee Woods, 16520 S. Central Ave, Oak Forest, IL 60452
Please remember to text or e-mail me if you have not signed up.
708-307-2176 or manzilotti@yahoo.com
We charge $5.00 at the door for members who did not sign up in advance, and $5.00 for all guest/
non-members.
Volunteers are always welcome and appreciated, set-up time is 11:00, checking people in, organizing games, general help and cleanup afterwards is greatly appreciated.
Also, please bring a side dish to share.
Let's kick off the summer fun starting with the picnic, Mark Anzilotti
Save the date, for a Friday evening get together.
Come meet up with current and new friends from the Nomads Ski Club. Socialize, listen to the music, and dance at this Party in the Park. 6:30pm-8:30pm Fortunate Sons (Creedence Clearwater
Revival Tribute Band) then 9:00pm-12:00am Mike and Joe.
If this event happens to be rained out the plan is to go to Banana's Café 18501 Convention Center
Drive Tinley Park, IL at 6:00pm.
When: Friday, June 24th
Time: Starting at 6:30pm
Where: Orland Hills Community Center
Address: 16553 S. Haven Avenue
Orland Hills, IL
Happy Summer everyone,
Before we know it, Ski season is right around the corner. I'm thinking about the following
Midwest destinations for the next ski year - I'd like to hear from you as to where you would
like to see the Nomads go.
- Ski Brule
- Boyne (Indiana Ski Council Race Weekend)
- Indianahead/Blackjack
- Afton Alps
- Powderhorn
Please email Patty (pfaups@bp.com) with your preferences.
Patty
Park City
The 20 Nomads spent 7 days in Park City, Utah March 5th to the 12th. We stayed in the Park
Station condos just one short block from the bottom of Main Street. With the town line lift
putting you right up the mountain, restaurants, shopping, and art galleries, it's the perfect
location to stay. Our first day there we had on and off sun showers so the group explored
Park City. After that it was 5 days of skiing Park City, The Cannons, and Deer Valley. Sunshine
and pleasant skiing temperatures meant early tracks for the best conditions. We did have a
bit of fresh snow Tuesday morning. In the beginning of the trip some of us played instead of
Where's Waldo, Where's Murph??? He wasn't lost, he was right where he was. No hot spots
for an aprè ski party with music. Seems all their live entertainment in town started at
9:30pm. So we meet in the hot tub daily. No serious injuries to report just a few scraps and
bruises. Park City had Nastar so we set up for those who wanted to participate to race on
Wednesday. Park City was definitely a great ski resort to visit. Short trip from the airport,
beautiful mountain with all levels and variety of terrain, Main Street's strip to go eat, drink,
shop, and browse the art galleries to take in this fabulous ski town.
Thanks for a great trip, Heather
Italy…Venice, Florence and Rome!
This trip was a non-ski trip and 27 members went on this journey to explore one of
the most visited countries. They started
out in Venice and went on a guided walking tour to learn about the history of this
area. Afterwards some of our members
decided to go to lunch and then stop at a
bar for a couple of glasses of wine. The
place turned out to be a “Gay Bar” and
they drank way more than a couple of
glasses of wine. You must ask someone
that was there about the shenanigans that
went on. Our next adventure was to the
island of Murano. This island is known
throughout the world for its glass manufacturing industry. Here we attended a glass blowing demonstration and after lots of shopping we then
headed to Burano. This island is famous for its lace and fishermen’s houses painted in bright colors. I believe all the girls came home with new scarfs. The next day our highlight was a ride in a
gondola and afterwards we had a wonderful group Italian dinner with lots of wine. After spending
four fabulous days in Venice; the group headed a little south and went to Florence. Again we took
a guided walking tour to learn about this city and its history. The tour also included time at the Uffizi
Gallery. The gallery collection includes primitive and renaissance paintings plus works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The group went on a charter bus tour to the town of Siena and then
to San Gimignano. Siena’s cathedral, the Duomo, dates back to the 12th century. San Gimignano
is a charming hill town which has preserved its medieval appearance. A few of our members decided to take a cooking class while being in the Tuscany area and they made the best Tiramisu! After
four days and lots of sightseeing in this wonderful city the group went a little south again and landed in Rome. Several of us decided to go on the “hop on, hop off “bus to see the sights. This was a
great way to see things at your own pace. A few of the places we visited were the Barberini
Square, Trevi Fountain, The Castel Sant’ Angelo, a rose garden with over 400 species and the Victor Emmanuel Monument. Of course you can’t go to Rome and not visit the Vatican. We also had
seen the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. Our next treat was to see the Colosseum. We
took a guided tour and they explained the history and architecture. They also described the hard
life of the gladiators and the gory games held in the arena. We ended our visit with another great
Italian dinner with the group.
On our way home I asked our members to give me their thoughts and experiences on this
trip and I want to share some of them with you.
One of my favorite events was going to the cooking class in Florence. I thought I knew how to cut a
damn carrot. These Italians do it differently; width must be 0.75 centimeters. Little did we know the
group dinner in Venice was going to be so much laughter!! Great idea…90% wine (good wine) and
10% food.
I found the trip to be well organized. There was a good balance between group activities and time
for ourselves. I thought two days in each city would have been enough. It would have been nice to
stay a whole day in Sienna or San Gimignano.
In Italy you can learn to sleep in extremely small spaces and still enjoy it. It’s all about the adventure!
Wonderful Trip! From the small things (airplane seats and hotel rooms) to the large things (The
Colosseum and Cindy’s patience). Lots of great conversations, food, wine and ancient sights.
We had a wonderful trip and the sights were amazing. I learned the following:
1. Toilet seats are not on most toilets
2. Most places do not supply paper towels or hand dryers
3. You always pay for water in a restaurant
4. In Venice there isn’t any coffee to go. You must sit and enjoy it
5. In Florence you can get American coffee “take away”
My little drunken turtle incident was probably the funniest event although I don’t
remember it. The Band-Aid on Rich’s
ass might be second. Of course the 9
toes cost me a bottle of wine. Plus Jeff
heading the wrong way and Scott
“Paddlefoot” finally offering GPS help
was another adventure. I think a great
time was had by all. I have gotten to
know many people on this trip much better especial Vicki and Keith. Venice and
Burano would be my favorite places and
my best purchase was my leather jacket.
Highlights of the trip: Seeing Venice and
Florence from the top of the Bell towers. Trying Italian food in Italy and it’s a lot different than
home. Gelato is delicious. Water closet is a bathroom. Seeing Venice by water taxis. The two
group dinners and seeing the Colosseum.
Nomads certainly know how to party in Italy. Cindy did a fantastic job. We got a bang for our
buck…breakfast every day, two group dinners, numerous tours which allowed us to thoroughly experience the highlights offered in each area. Everyone got plenty of exercise with all of the walking
we did. Which was good because we ate plenty of bread. It’s hard to believe one could get tired of
eating croissants. It was a phenomenal experience to ride in a gondola, see the works of Michelangelo, and the Colosseum.
We really enjoyed the entire trip. We felt that the excursion was well worth our money. The tours
highlighted all of the points of interest we were hoping to see. The group dinners were great especially for us as we are first getting to know the Nomads.
The highlights of my trip I suppose could
have been Scott’s face plant (a 10 in my
book) or Keith and George getting so
drunk they cross-dressed. Did they?
Ask them! Maybe it was Heather calling
gay guys, non-gay guys and killing any
chance of them hooking up. These
were all great. Was it Jeff trying to
count to 20? Nope. It was marrying
Cindy on my birthday in Italy! Actually
the people made the trip…every one of
them. Thanks for the memories.
What a great trip if you didn’t go. You
missed out on so many things to see
from Venice to Rome that it is hard to
pick just one thing that stood out. However, for us, the trip to the heart of Tuscany (San Gimignano) was the best. We could have been happy to spend the entire trip there. Thank you Cindy
for such an outstanding job.
2016 Gelato tour. The European trip was a “dream come true vacation”. We ate Gelato 12 times in
two weeks! We enjoyed the bus ride to get us to the water taxi and then to Venice. Venice has
taught me a lot. First, everything seems to move by boat. Second, men and women share bathrooms together. Third, dogs are allowed almost everywhere. There are beautiful old buildings,
doors and architecture. The evening all 27 Nomads ate dinner together in Venice was very special.
We had great
food and conversation. I enjoyed
getting to know
and meeting
some Nomads
for the first time.
Wow! We had a
great group that
went to Europe.
Our second stop
was the lovely city of Florence. I could window shop there all day. The churches, fancy outside
restaurants, and the outside upper terrace at our hotel was great. The day trip to Sienna and to
San Gimignano was exceptional! I loved the landscape, the vineyards and seeing the inside of the
city of San Gimignano. The walls that surround this town and the towers for the wealthy families
were amazing to see. The Gelato was the best here also. Our third stop was Rome. We enjoyed
the Vatican tour, the Colosseum tour, and the hop on, hop off, green-line bus tour of Rome. We had
an outstanding adventure. I believe we walked more than 40 miles in the two weeks. And we enjoyed all of the Gelato along the way.
I want to thank everyone who went on this trip. It was fun and the memories/pictures will be treasured. I hope to see all of you again when I set up another trip down the road. Cindy
CHICAGO NOMADS BICYCLE RIDES – 2016
The Nomad Ski Club will host organized bicycle rides, one each month, from June – September. Except for the “special additional rides”, all bike rides begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday mornings and are usually about 15-20 miles total with a break in the middle or an informal gathering afterwards. Many trails offer extended rides for those hearty souls wishing to ride further, faster, earlier, or later. Membership in the ski club is not required.
Sunday, June 5, Tinley Creek Trail, Oak Forest – This ride will depart at 10:30 a.m. from Yankee
Woods Forest Preserve located at 163rd and Central in Oak Forest. The trail is paved and relatively flat. We
will ride to The Plush Horse Ice Cream Parlor in Palos Park at 12301 S. 86 th Avenue, indulge our sweet tooth,
then ride back.
Sunday, July 10, Old Plank Road Trail, Frankfort – This 14 mile ride departs at 10:30 a.m. from
downtown Frankfort, Breidert Green Community Park, White and Kansas Street. After the ride, relax and
enjoy a bite to eat at the fabulous Farmers Market while listening to music in the park or have a beer and
sandwich at the “Build a Bun” sandwich shop or many other choices.
Sunday, August 7, Cal-Sag Trail, Lake Katherine, Palos Heights – This ride departs at 10:30 a.m.
and will begin and end at Lake Katherine Nature Center & Botanical Gardens, 7402 W. Lake Katherine Drive,
Palos Heights. We will ride approximately 15 miles on this paved trail.
Sunday, September 11, Old Plank Road Trail, Frankfort – This ride departs at 10:30 a.m. from
downtown Frankfort, Breidert Green Community Park, White and Kansas Streets. We will ride the paved
trail 8-10 miles, stopping on our return at The Bulldog Ale House to enjoy refreshments, alfresco style (their
$5.00 Bloody Mary’s are fantastic and $4-32 oz beers will quench your thirst) then ride a short 4 miles back
to Frankfort.
Special Additional Rides:
Wednesday, July 27, Chicago Lakefront: This ride will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the 31 st Street parking lot
($1.00/hr). We’ll ride to North Avenue Beach, have lunch, then ride back to our cars.
Saturday, August ??: “Bike the Burbs for Beer”. This bicycle pub crawl is a very informal bike ride through
parts of Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, South Chicago Heights and Steger. Ride begins in Flossmoor at 10:30
a.m. and ends at about 4:30 p.m. We will ride through several majestic old neighborhoods and give people a
chance to see parts of the area that they may not see very often, and for some, areas that they have never
seen. We stop at several local establishments to relax and enjoy a drink or two. All the places we visit are
family owned and operated by great people that support their local communities. They’re all old school so if
you’re looking for anything new, “upscale”, or trendy you will be disappointed. There is no cost for the ride
except what you choose to spend on food and drink. A buffet lunch will be available at 3 Star for $7.00.
Cost: Non Members are Welcome. No fee to participate. The Nomad's
are going to have a motorcycle ride. We will meet at 9am sharp at the
Shell gas station on 191st and Lagrange in Mokena, IL and will be riding
up to Union, IL. We plan to stay off the highway on the way there and
may take the highway on the way back. Once there we plan to visit the
Illinois Railway Museum. Entry into the museum is $14 per person. The
museum, all meals and etc is pay on your own. From there we will head
back home. There maybe stops in between to eat and etc either on the
way up or on the way back. If you plan to go or have questions please
send an email to web@Chicagonomads.com so we can make sure we
leave with everyone.
Membership (Mary Anzilotti),
Hi everyone, just a reminder that, Membership renewal starts
June 1st.
Please sign up early, we will be taking signups at the spring picnic, June 4th
We are grateful that Steve Young will be the new membership
director, so please welcome him! (and be nice to him too!).
Annual Picnic: Aug 27th
Norge Ski Club 100 Ski Hill Road Fox River Grove, IL
• Gates open at Noon
• Food at 2:30 (BYOB)
• Ski Jumping at 3:30
• Giant Bonfire
• Entertainment all day by DJ Smooth Crew
• Camping available 26th & 27th
Cubs vs Brewers Rooftop Outing
Sept 18th game time 1:20
Rooftop open 12:20
$99.00 all-inclusive food and drink
Checks payable to CMSC
Contact Mary Kreinbring: marycmsc@outlook.com
European trip: Davos, Switzerland Jan 27th -Feb 4th optional 3 day extension to Nice, France Feb
4th -Feb 7th 2017
Contact trip leader Mike Pogar
847-381-4452 to sign up
Chicago Week: Beaver Creek, Colorado
Feb 25th -Mar 4th 2017... details coming
Spring Fling: Snowmass, Colorado
April 1-6, 2017 $1105 details coming
For further details on any event go to CMSC.com click CMSC events
June 2016
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
Social Joe
Daniels
7:30pm
5
6
7
8
Bicycle
Ride
12
Nomad
Picnic
9
10
11
17
18
24
25
Board
Meeting
13
14
15
16
General
Meeting 7:30
19
20
21
22
23
Orland
Hills Party
in the Park
26 -
27
Motorcycle
Ride
Social Meeting
1st Wednesday of every month
Joe Daniel’s
12218 S. Harlem, Palos Heights
7:30 p.m.
28
29
30
Board Members 2016-2017
Debbie Durkovic
Scott Sanders
Treasurer
Social Director
Editor/Webmaster
pamccdoc@comcast.net
ddurkovic1234@conmcast.net
web@Chicagonomads.com
Heather Seger
Patty Himmel
Steve Young
Vice President
Midwest Trip Director
Membership Director
708-228-1004
stevey008@aol.com
Bob Klawitter
President
bobgrouch@sbcglobal.net
Ski2bhigh1208@gmail.com
pfaups@bp.com
Ann Engelmann
Secretary
engs85@aol.com
Mark Anzilotti
Special Events Director
manzilotti@yahoo.com
Trip Cancellations: The Nomad Ski Club through its Board of DiNomad Newsletter: If you have not received your
rectors reserves the right to cancel trips, payments will be refunded. newsletter, contact our Webmaster.
If trips are canceled due to circumstances beyond the control of the Web@Chicagonomads.com
Nomad Ski Club, payments less expenses caused by the cancellation will be refunded.
Membership Dues: Payable after June 1, 2016. Current
membership is required to be eligible for any ski trip. Sign
Non-refundable trip deposits are 10% of the trip price for Western & up with the Membership Director at any meeting. Single:
(new) $30) (renewal) $25, Married Couples: (new) $40
European trips and $35 for Midwest trips.
(renewal) $35.
Non-Refundable Deposits: Members reserve a seat on a trip by
making a non-refundable trip deposit.
Member Cancellations: Members who cancel their seat on a trip
will forfeit the non-refundable trip deposit plus any fees or losses
incurred on their behalf. If cancellation occurs after the predetermined closing date (the date the last payment is due on the trip),
the full price of the trip may be charged. A cancellation form must
be submitted to the Trip Leader within 30 days after the trip departs
for refund consideration.
Trip Waiting List: A completely full trip means all seats are filled
on the bus scheduled for a Midwest trip or the minimum number of
seats are filled on a Western or European trip. A member that cancels off a trip may be replaced on that trip from a waiting list, but the
trip must be completely full. Canceling members that are replaced
on a trip from a waiting list forfeit the non-refundable deposit plus
any additional expenses incurred due to the cancellation. The excess will be refunded.
Contact your
Trip Leader if
you have any
questions.
Trip Sign-ups:
In person at any
meeting
Social Meeting: 1st Wednesday of every month at Joe
Daniel’s: 12218 S. Harlem, Palos Heights, IL @ 7:30
p.m.
General Meeting: 3rd Thursday of every month at Gaelic Park: 6119 W. 147th St.,
Oak Forest, IL @ 7:30 p.m.
Board Meeting: 2nd Thursday of every month, 7 p.m.,
location TBA.
ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME
Unsolicited articles and announcements
may be submitted by contacting Scott Sanders at
Web@Chicagonomads.com
Deadline is 1 week before the 1st of the month.